Noe vir iustus atque perfectus. Un inedito sermone De beato Francisco di Giacomo da Viterbo (4 ottobre 1305) (33-63)

Description

The aim of this paper is to provide the edition and the historico-philosophical analysis of the only sermon devoted by the Augustinian master James of Viterbo to Saint Francis of Assisi and dated October 4, 1305, during the time of his episcopate in Naples. By comparing this sermon with other sermons on the same thema verse, dated between the second half of the 13th and the early 14th century and belonging to Franciscan and Dominican milieux, the originality of James’s sermon can be found in the rigorous triadic pattern of its argumentations, in the stringency of its arguments and in James’s preference for the Neoplatonist tradition, especially for Proclus, the only philosophical source explicitly mentioned. These elements also allow us to highlight the continuity between James’s activity as preacher ad populum and his earlier activity as master of theology.